Hot stock: Venture soars more than 8% on stellar results and analysts' upgrade

THE share price of Venture Corporation soared more than 8 per cent on Monday, the first trading day after the contract manufacturer posted a stellar half-year report card.

Venture shares hit S$15 a piece, compared to its close of S$13.85 on Friday. At 4.19pm, they were trading around S$14.87, up S$1.02, or 7.37 per cent. More than 3 million shares changed hands.

After the market closed on Friday, Venture reported that its second-quarter net profit rose 61 per cent to S$69.8 million, or 24.7 Singapore cents per share, on better sales and improved profit margins. Revenue increased by 48.3 per cent to a record S$1 billion in the three months ended June 30.

"With the continued value creation coupled with new major product launches ahead in 4Q17F, we expect this positive momentum to likely continue into 3Q17F. We expect a 20 per cent increase in dividends this year given its stellar performance," Jarick Seet, Head of Small-Mid Caps at RHB Research Institute Singapore, said.

RHB is keeping its buy call on Venture, and raised its target price to S$14.70 a share.